As soon as Alex is within my reach, I take him away from the others in order to have a private conversation with him.
"Alex, I would like to know the reason why you brought the bas–, his Majesty, and our mother here?"
"Oh, I just wanted them to see how you valiantly fight against the daughter of Duke Braymont. Knowing you sis, I'm sure the match will end in less than 10 seconds!" He proudly says that as if he will be the one fighting.
Haven't you considered that I will be the one who will lose in less than 10 seconds? Or did he say that exactly because he knows that?
"I can understand that on mother's case.. But why did you bring His Majesty as well? You know that His Majesty really hates women, especially me."
"I just thought that if father sees you winning, he'll realize all the hard work that you've put in training. Maybe then he'll change his mind about you, and we will all be happy together.. Sis.. Are you mad at me?" asks Alex while looking at me with a sorry face.
Ugh, if he looks at me like that..
I sigh, "I'm not angry, but next time, be sure to tell me first okay?" I pat his head which in turn made his face brighten.
"I will!"
Seriously though, no matter how much I try to understand Alex, I just can't sympathize with his ways. It makes me happy to know that he is doing all of these things to fix my relationship with the bastard, but really, sometimes there are things that just can't be fixed. His sentiments are being placed in the wrong way.
...
Miss Deuwen went to Cassie's side and talks to her, in which I can't seem to hear what they're talking about.
"Lady Cassandra, this will be the Princess' first actual battle. The reason why I approved of this is because you are already experienced with sparring against the other knights, I also want the Princess to gain practical experience as it is different from just learning by theory."
"It's okay, Ara will be my future wife, so I won't hurt her that much, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on her, I also have my pride as a Braymont. So you don't have to worry that much about your first apprentice hehe." Cassie said in a playful manner.
".. I can't help but worry about her since female knights are uncommon because of how frail our body can be. Besides, I recommend that you don't underestimate the princess too much, she might look just like a nervous child in your eyes, but remember the fact that I am the one who taught her."
"No need for the reminder, Miss Deuwen. I am getting the feeling that if I let my guard down in front of her during the battle, it will just come back to bite me." Cassie says as she looks at me like a predator looking at its prey, causing me to flinch.
".. The House of Braymont is indeed a force to be reckoned with." Miss Deuwen smiles as she walks away from Cassie.
I asked Miss Deuwen about what she talked about with Cassie, but all she did was shake her head.
"You have a good fiancé, your Highness." says Miss Deuwen as she smiles and fixes my hair into a ponytail like how she does it whenever we are training since having a long hair is quite troublesome when doing strenuous activities as it usually gets in the way.
I blushed and asked her one more time, "Y-Yes.. B-By the way, did Cassie say anything about me? She seemed pretty serious when she looked at me earlier."
Why did Cassie have to tell Miss Deuwen about our childish ramblings?! Ugh, I'm so embarrassed right now..
Miss Deuwen chuckles, "She just said how lucky she is to have her Highness as her future wife."
"..." I blushed once again.
I wonder why won't she tell me anything about it, maybe it is simply a secret between the two of them, but this should be the first time that they meet each other though?
.
..
...
A few minutes have passed, and now it's time to start the sparring.
Cassie and I went into our respective sides, Miss Deuwen then walks right in the middle of the distance between us and explained the rules. Basically, as long as we stop when the outcome of the fight is decided, and when a fatal blow is about to land, we will stop immediately in order to prevent serious injuries.
Now that I think about it, is it normal to have 7 year olds spar against each other? I guess Cassie is experienced enough to do so but.. damn, prodigies are quite something.
A few moments before the fight, I can hear Bea and Alex cheering for me.
"Ara~ just give up when you can't hold on any longer okay? I don't want to see you getting injured!"
.. Well, maybe cheering is not the right word for what she's doing.
"Don't go easy on her sis!" says Alex.
I'm appalled that you can demand such a thing even though you don't know the actual combat strength of who I'm fighting against.
I can also see my Mother being worried from afar. I guess that's understandable since I didn't inform her about such an event happening.. Alex did a number on me this time. I don't even want to look for the bastard.
Aside from the people 'cheering' for me, I can also hear some cheers from Cassie's side.
"My cute daughter~ Show the Princess that you are worthy of being her fiancé!" says a man while cheering with people holding a banner, written on it is 'Cassandra <3 <3'.
Are those Cassie's family?! I thought they were her fanbase or something! Oh my god that's so embarrassing.. if they were my family, I might be too ashamed to even admit that I know them. I'm surprised that Cassie thought that she was unloved by her family when they are openly showing how much they care for her.
"Please be quiet." As soon as Miss Deuwen said so, the crowd immediately became quiet.
"Are both of you ready?"
"Yes!" Cassie and I said simultaneously.
"Then, begin!" Miss Deuwen immediately disappears after she announced that.